


The Reason for the Season

by notoriously



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Christmas, Gen, Humor, Marauders, Marauders Friendship, Marauders' Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-17
Updated: 2017-07-17
Packaged: 2018-12-03 09:19:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11529276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/notoriously/pseuds/notoriously
Summary: The Marauders are truly thick as thieves, so when Christmas of their sixth year rolls around and they find themselves with nowhere to go, James jumps at the opportunity for them to spend Christmas with his family. Sirius is staying with them already and Peter jumped at the chance - now it's just down to them to convince Remus to ignore his insecurities and come along with them.





	The Reason for the Season

"Remus, you're  _family!_ "

The words made the boy being addressed stop, turning around to see James looking as frazzled as he ever had. Sirius was beside James, his trunk packed. Peter was in the process of packing, but Remus was not packed, nor was he at all ready to go. Sirius had recently moved in with the Potters, and was going home with James for Christmas. Peter’s mother was on a holiday over the season, so he was tagging along too. But Remus Lupin was being stubborn.

“Listen, it’s not a big deal -” Remus began.

“What do you  _mean,_ not a big deal? Don’t you think we’ll feel like right gits leaving you here for bloody Christmas?” James looked at Remus over the rims of his glasses which had fallen down in his outburst.

“James,  _please –_ ”

“Don’t start with that  _James, please_ business, Moony.” James folded his arms, and Remus sat down on the end of his bed. The full moon had only been a day prior, and it showed on his face, in his limbs and in the general pallor of his whole body.

“I’ll only be a burden. I’m - I’m not exactly great company right now,” Remus added, but James only rolled his eyes.

“So you want to sit here and wallow in your own misery? That’s  _depressing,_ come on, come be miserable with me and my lot. Poppy said you were  _fine_ to go for Christmas.” James rocked back and forth on his feet, almost unable to stay still.

“ _Madam Pomfrey,”_ Remus corrected, “said I should rest. My mother and father agreed.” James sighed, eyebrows dipping. He knew that Remus’ parents did love him, they truly did, but they knew Hogwarts was the best place for his condition to be kept under control. Still, what sort of parents couldn’t make arrangements for  _Christmas,_ he wondered? He knew his parents would - not that there were any arrangements to be made. Remus wasn’t going to transform over the holiday. So, damn it, Remus was coming home with them. James cleared his throat before taking a deep breath in and making his voice unreasonably high.

“ _Oh, Fleamont, my darling… I do wonder how that handsome, sweet, handsome, smart, and did I mention handsome boy Remus is,”_  James brought a hand to his forehead in a dramatic impression of his mother. Peter gave a snort of laughter from behind his open trunk. Wordlessly, Sirius stepped forward, his voice dropping low.

“ _Well, my beautiful Euphemia, I imagine that ruggedly handsome boy has just… wasted away. That, or he simply doesn’t want to visit us anymore.”_ Sirius’ eyebrows were knitted together in a very poor impression of James’ dad, but it had James barely able to hold in his laughter. Still, he managed to, if only to pretend to faint into Sirius’ waiting arms. He sighed dramatically, bringing a hand to his forehead as Sirius held him with slightly shaky arms, looking just-as-dramatically off into the distance.

There was a rare occurrence in that particular dormitory for only a moment - silence.

They then lost it entirely.

Peter almost fell into his open trunk as he doubled-over, cackling. Sirius managed to drop James straight on his arse on the floor as he keeled over with laughter, slapping his knees. James took his glasses off, wiping tears from his eyes. Remus was still sitting on the end of the bed, though his hand was clamped over his mouth in a half-baked attempt to stop laughter from bursting forth. It didn’t work, though, and before he knew it he was flopped back onto his bed, laughter rippling forth from his mouth. He rarely laughed this shortly after a transformation, but his three friends stopped their own laughter to watch it. James was the first to get up, restoring his glasses to their usual spot to walk over to Remus. He held a hand out to him, pulling him to sit up again on the bed. James was grinning, and Remus too had tears of laughter in the corners of his eyes.

“You comin’ with us, mate?” he asked, and Remus sighed and went to stand. 

“Would be pretty cold of me to say no after a performance like that, hm?” Remus asked, and James’ grin only got wider.

“ _That’s_ the spirit, Moony,” Sirius remarked, walking over to Remus’ bed to grab his trunk out from under it. He started flicking his wand around the place, packing some of Remus’ things for him. Peter looked up over his trunk, which he had just finished packing  _by hand, with no help from Sirius Black thank you very much,_ and wandered over to the other three.

“How long had they been practising that one, Peter?” Remus asked, and Peter tilted his head.

“Oh, couple weeks,” he replied. James clicked his tongue at Sirius, who winked in response. Remus shook his head with a smirk.

“Of course,” he remarked, his cheeks slightly red and ruddy from the laughter.

“The Marauders do Christmas, huh? You’ve all got me presents, right?” Peter asked, and James rested an arm on his shoulder.

“Yeah, course,” James asserted, before turning to Remus and Sirius and shaking his head, mouthing  _absolutely not_ silently. Peter elbowed him in the side.

“You really  _are_ a git, Potter,” he snorted. Sirius had almost finished packing Remus’ trunk, and he spoke up, wand poised.

“Hey, Remus, you want those magazines you hide under your mattress, or?” Sirius smirked, and Remus’ eyes widened.

“Oh, shut up, Padfoot, blow it out your –”

“ _Listen_ , Moony,” James spoke up, “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen you with them. Your  _lumos_ isn’t as dim as you think it is.”

“Don’t be daft, I don’t have  _magazines –”_

 _“_ Sure sounds like something someone with magazines would say,” Peter added, and they all started approaching Remus with joking chides of  _where are they, where’d you get ‘em, huh, huh_ **huh,** when a familiar voice sounded at the door. 

“ _Potter, Black and Pettigrew,_ if you do  _not_ march down here in the next minute the train will  _leave you behind!”_

James’ eyes widened and he rushed over to his trunk. Peter did the same, and Sirius latched Remus’ trunk before heading back over to his own. 

“Coming, Professor!” Peter rushed to the door first.

“Re – Lupin is coming too, Professor, that’s fine right? Great, that’s totally fine! C’mon, Moony!” Sirius went next, and Remus grabbed his trunk to make for the door. James waited up for Remus, patting his shoulder and leaning it towards his ear.

“You really are  _all_ family. I know Sirius is staying with us permanently, but that doesn't make you and Peter any less important to me. To _all_ of us,” James remarked, and Remus felt a warmth in his chest - the notion of someone  _choosing_ him as their family was something he never thought he would get to experience, quite honestly.

“… I know, James. Thank you,” Remus replied. James nodded, squeezing Remus’ shoulder.

“And we  _know_ you don’t have the magazines. Peter does.”

In a split second, Peter turned from his trunk to rush back at James, hands waving, yelling things about how he  _absolutely did not_ and  _at least it’s not pictures of Lily Evans, James_  and – 

“ _ **Boys! Now!**_ ”

The Marauders hastily made their way out of the dorm to a very unimpressed looking Professor McGonagall. Remus was the last out, giving one quick look back into the dorm. 

He was very glad he wasn’t spending his Christmas there. He was  _much_ happier spending it with family.

**Author's Note:**

> This is pretty short, sharp and shiny, I know! This is a slightly altered and edited version of a drabble I did from the prompt "you're family" over on tumblr - you can find me and request a fic idea or prompt (top tip: if it's about Lupin I'm probably down to write it) at r-emuslupin!


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